Plans Never Survive Contact With a Fourteen Year-Old
by Ragingceliac
Summary: Danny comes home one night with a black eye and no answers to some meaningful questions. In the drama that ensues, a secret gets out, and one Jazz wasn't very prepared to face.


**Jazz planned** to let Danny tell her. Planned.

Of course, he manages to get home two hours past curfew with a massive black eye a week later.

Jazz was sixteen. She could stay up well past midnight and pass it off as studying. Mom and Dad (Well, at least Dad) wouldn't question her. Danny, though? He didn't get that luxury. None of his classes were strenuous enough. Which lead to the situation she'd only had the maljudgement to land herself in once; the parents sitting in the kitchen when you came home.

Jazz stayed up with them, claiming that Danny was just off with Sam and Tucker.

"You know how they are," she said desperately, "Always playing their video games and on their phones. He would've told you if something was wrong!"

Jazz had taken to covering for her brothers ectoplasmic escapades, thinking that he had enough on his plate protecting the town. This particular incident, though, was more than even she could manage. Coming back at One in the morning? That was hard to explain. Very hard. To the point that when her mother just nodded mildly, she realized with disappointment that she'd failed. Hard.

She waited in the living room under the pretense of finishing an English essay (Even though she'd completed it two nights before), something she was dubious she would've made real progress on even she'd had to do it anyways. She was tense, tapping her foot against the floor, her laptop open in her lap. She resisted the urge to chew her nails, instead opting to nervously glance back at the kitchen.

This was really bad.

Ever since she'd found out that it was Danny who went around saving the town from ghosts, and after she'd worked through her shock, she'd felt two conflicting desires; the first was the part of her calling to decry anything and everything to do with Danny Phantom, and immediately tell her parents, because what Danny was doing was stupidly dangerous. The second called for keeping his secret, letting him tell her when he was ready, and covering for him. She'd heeded that part of her, but now she was seriously reconsidering.

Her parents were bound to find out sometime, right? Danny was clearly good at what he did - he had to be - yet everyone made mistakes. Goofs. Slip-ups. No one was perfect. Aside from that, anyways, was the bags she saw under his eyes; it was noticeable and unavoidable at this point. Even Dad had noticed them. It was only a matter of time before what happened with her happened with her parents. The thing with her parents was, of course, that they walked around armed at all times and wouldn't hesitate to shoot Phantom. One wrong move and… no. She'd be rational. She had to be. Normalcy, Jazz. Be a source of normalcy.

There was a trio of raps on the door, and Jazz shot up, making sure to close her laptop and place it next to her. She rushed out of the living room, only to see Mom and Dad had beaten her to it by a mile; they were already chewing Danny out, loud as can be, with no regard for the fact that the door was still open.

"Young man you are in so much trouble," Maddie glared, "I know you're growing and you think you're independent but that _does not_ mean you can run around to god knows where till one in the morning!" She threw her arms up, "Do you have any idea how worried we've been? How scared we were? You didn't even call! Jazz says you were with Sam and Tucker-"

"What?" Danny cut in, bewildered. He snuck a look past his parents, seeing his older sister standing in the hall, stress and worry and shock written across her face.

"Don't change the subject!" Maddie fumed, "Where did you get _that_?" she thrust a finger to his black eye accusingly. For several moments, Danny was quiet, more focused on the fact that he'd never once been with Sam or Tucker that night - which meant Jazz had been… covering for him? But that made no sense! Why would she do that? Pity? So she could chew him out herself? No, she'd do that anyways, a part of him piped up. Was it some psychology thing again? Was he gonna get one of those, "Now I know you're growing and your body is changing yadda yadda yadda" talks? He heard his mother continue her rant, and only the last part snapped him out of his thought.

"-And you're grounded for a month." Danny started, staring at her. He couldn't get grounded; he just couldn't. How was he gonna fight ghosts? He'd still have to. Mom and Dad… they weren't bad, okay, but they weren't him; they couldn't fly or phase through the walls they needed to like he could. Ecto-guns were all well and good until they ran out of juice (Which, he'd discovered early on, the Fenton Ecto-blasters had a nasty habit of doing in the middle of fights).

"But-" he protested, to which his father placed a hand on his mother's shoulder, looking slightly perturbed yet equally angered.

"I'm with your mother on this one," Jack Fenton said, "And that also means no hot chocolate for the month as well!" Maddie rolled her eyes at her husband behind her goggles.

"I need that time!" Danny cried, "I need it for… for… uh…"

"What do you need?" Maddie crossed her arms, arching an eyebrow, again behind her goggles. Danny really wanted to say, _Protecting the town because you can't do your job_ but held back. He glared at both his parents before sighing heavily.

"To go to bed…" he answered in a monotone. Maddie nodded.

"Exactly. Now go!"

Danny trudged past his parents moodily, muttering to himself, and past Jazz, silently trying to ask her why she'd attempted to cover for him. When he looked at her with question in his eyes, though, the answer he got was a "Go to bed" look. He snorted. If only they knew, he thought bitterly. Then they wouldn't yell or scream; no lectures or curfews or anything like that. Just respect. Respect and letting him come home at one after fighting a ghost without shouting at him.

He threw open the door to his room and dived onto his bed, completely dejected, wondering how he was going to tell Sam and Tucker. The no hang-outs for a month would tick them off like nothing else, especially with all the new movies the year was promising. Oh geez, what would Sam think? She'd most definitely get mad at him, one for getting grounded and for the fact he'd fought a ghost on his own, which for some reason annoyed her very much every time he did it. He wasn't sure why that set her off but he knew an angry Samantha Mason was not someone he desired at all to deal with.

Danny sighed again, running a hand through his sweaty hair, wincing at the throbbing his bruises were giving him; this particular ghost had been a challenge, he'd give it that. It left bruises all over him, the most noticeable of course being his black eye. But there was at least a dozen or so smaller ones across his front and back. The ghost also left him with a cut across his leg that'd most certainly become a scar, knowing his luck. He narrowed his eyes, wondering if he could just go into the Ghost Zone and never come back. His parents wouldn't be hounding him at any rate in there.

His eyes snapped over to his door as it creaked open, and Jazz walked in cautiously, closing it as quietly as she could. Danny snorted, turning in his bed to look at the wall. Jazz hesitated, uncertainty gripping her for the first time in a while; she knew her psychology, but teenagers were said to be difficult even by her most advanced readings. And a teen superhero? That wasn't exactly covered in Psych 2A/B. She took a breath. _Go with your gut, Jazz. Go with your gut._

"Danny," she began softly, slowly and deliberately approaching her brother's bed. "I-"

"-Why'd you do it?" he cut her off quietly. Jazz blinked.

"Huh?"

"Why'd you do it?" Danny asked. "So I can get another 'talk'? So I'd get chewed out by a 'normal' person?" his voice picked up a note of anger as he went on. ""Cause I don't need it. I know I'm a screw-up, okay? I should've called home sooner, should've gotten home faster, all that crap. I get it." Jazz looked at him worriedly, alarm bells going off like ambulance sirens in her head. Okay, she told herself. Stay calm. Calm. Support. That's what he needs right now. Calm support.

"Danny, I know-"

"-No." Danny cut her off again, some part of him meekly pointing out that none of this was really Jazz's fault. He ignored it, too angry at the world to care at that point. "No. You don't understand. You'll never understand." he turned over and got up, glaring at her. He was nearly her height now. He clenched his fists so tightly his knuckles were white. "None of you do. Stop telling me you do because you don't. Just leave me alone, will you? You're not helping." Jazz felt hurt at those words, which (She hoped) she masked well enough. Danny glared at her.

"Are you deaf?"

Jazz was tempted to just go. Let Danny tell her when he's ready after all. But something in his face stopped her; the bags under his eyes were seriously ugly, and the redness them told her all she needed to know about his emotional state. It was common complaint with teenagers that they didn't connect with their families, and while Jazz was adamant that Mom and Dad needed to be more normal, she also realized that Danny probably felt alone. There wasn't anyone else really like him at all in the world. She knew he had Tucker and Sam but… family was forever. She hated that her family was this dysfunctional. Danny? She had a really bad feeling he blamed himself. He needed support; someone who would be there when his friends couldn't. And at the moment, he had no-one. The girl took another breath, slow and deep. Danny still glared at her.

"I know." she said simply. Danny blinked, looking at her with wide eyes full of fear and shock - for a moment. He deepened his glare in no time.

"You know what?" he snarled back, though there was a defined note of _Oh god you can't_ to it. Jazz put her hands on Danny's shoulders, something he was too internally panicky to properly react to. By the time he earnestly tried to get out, Jazz's hands were like iron clamps. He struggled, his older sister looking between him and his bedroom door worriedly. Danny was more fit than she'd anticipated, and she had serious trouble keeping him still. After several dozen nerve-wracking seconds, Jazz finally decided to put her foot down. She stomped on Danny's sneaker, which didn't make all that much sound, thankfully. He did growl though.

"Let me go! Or-"

"-Or you'll go ghost?" Jazz cut off pointedly. Danny glared harder.

"You know ghosts aren't real! Mom and Dad are just crazy!" he kicked, hitting her hard in the shin. Jazz's eyes watered, and her grip loosened enough for Danny to wrench himself away from her. She felt a hopelessness descend on her, and she could see the opportunity to have a talk about this slipping away by the moment.

"NOW GET OUT OF MY ROOM!" Danny screamed, making Jazz wince. A second after, the door to his room swung open, revealing an exasperated Maddie and Jack.

"What is going on in here?" she demanded. "It's nearly two! Both of you, bed, now!" Jazz blinked hard, fighting back her own anger.

"Mom, please," she began, "Nothing's wrong. Danny and I were just having an argument." Maddie shook her head.

"Jasmine Fenton, you will go to your room and you will _stay there_." Jazz hesitated for just a moment before nodding, shooting Danny one last glance as she left. The girl trudged over to her room before flopping down on her bed in a very disorganized manner. Her ears buzzed. Disappointment nestled itself comfortably in her gut, feeling like a lead weight. If she'd only had a few more minutes with him he would've calmed down. Calmed down and they would've talked about it. Sorted it out like a normal family. Of course, it didn't happen that way.

Danny had freaked. Jazz supposed she couldn't blame him; it was obvious from when she'd tried to interrogate Sam and Tucker that he kept his alter ego under tight wraps. The thought that someone else knew - his own sister, too, who would probably tell his parents - must've been terrifying. Jazz sighed. Why did everything have to be so complicated? Having a little brother had been a handful before said sibling got superpowers, but now she couldn't so much as talk to him. And being grounded for a month? That wouldn't make things any easier. Jazz rolled over, burying her face in her pillow.

Part of her was tempted to sneak into Danny's room and force the conversation on him. But… that was the exact sort of thing that had caused problems, wasn't it? The wrong time and wrong situation. No. She couldn't barge in - she had to give Danny time. Like a normal person Jazz. Normalcy, Jazz. Be a source of normalcy.

With an exhausted groan, she rolled over and stared at the ceiling, mind still racing well into the night.

* * *

Danny awoke at midday. His dreams had been a strange mix of him going ghost and Jazz freaking out. He could still remember the frankness of her voice last night.

 _I know._

He was awkward, not stupid. That really could only mean one thing. At least, that's what most of him said. A smaller sect said that it had to just be her overbearing on him again; saying that she could relate for empathy or whatever. To get him talking. Despite the fact that no-one was even in the room, he pulled his covers further up all the way to his chin, and groaned.

He was still sore from last night.

 _Or you'll go ghost?_

She knew. Jazz knew his secret. That ran like a mantra through his head, mercilessly ringing. He'd slipped up; someone found out Fenton was Phantom. And that shook him more than any ghost could ever dream to.

The only people who did know he was Phantom were Sam and Tucker. They were the only ones for a reason. If his parents found out, well, for all he knew they might decide they like their human son more than their ghost one. They thought ghosts were evil - and, yeah, he'd grant that but he wasn't a bad guy. He fought the bad guys. No strings attached, no fine print. Danny knew, though, that his parents would likely never be able to see it that way. And Jazz? She never believed in ghosts… at least he'd thought she didn't.

She knew.

She knew.

What the heck was he supposed to do?

He was trapped; bringing the fact that he spent the majority of his nights up till eleven fighting things most people didn't think existed up with his sister? On a bad idea scale of 1-10, Danny rated that a solid 11. Not only would that be awkward, but it also meant she could lord it over him. What if she ever felt he was being too dangerous? It would literally take less than five minutes for everything to be blown open. She was overbearing as it was. There'd be more nights like the last one; more deadly, more determined ghosts had to appear eventually, if the name he was making for himself was really as large as it sounded.

Danny rolled over again, and glowered moodily at his computer. He felt something vibrate in his pocket, jumping a bit then muttering to himself, as he opened it. Sam's picture stared back at him on the screen, not improving his mood any. With a slight dread, he accepted the call, pressing the phone to his ear with a flinch.

 _"_ Finally _,"_ Sam's voice droned through the thing, _"What took you so long?"_ Danny ran a hand down his face, letting snark creep into his voice. This wasn't gonna go down at all either way.

"I was up to one fighting a ghost last night, got grounded, and I'm about ninety-nine percent sure Jazz knows about me." he responded dryly, "Sorry I didn't answer first thing in the morning."

 _"You - I - what?! But that's not possible! Jazz never…"_ Danny heard an angry huff from Sam's end, before a calming breath. _"Okay. So last night was something, huh?"_

"You think so?" Danny said with bite. He heard a snort from Sam.

" _I'm trying to help, Danny."_ Sam was clearly putting effort into being calm, _"last night was hard. Does that work?"_

"Mhm," Danny answered quietly, feeling shame rising. He shouldn't take stuff out on her. "Sorry."

" _S'fine,"_ Sam told him, and he could practically hear the "I'm-still-ticked-but-I-get-it" shrug in her voice. _"Do you want us to come over? I can get him a ride."_

"Sure, as long as my parents don't let you in,"

" _I'm losing patience, Fenton,"_

"Okay, okay. That'd be great." Danny felt a small smile tug at the corners of his mouth.

" _Thank you,"_ Danny was relieved to discern the smallest amount of levity in her voice. _"I'll see you in twen - wait. Mom and Dad are out for brunch? Eww. Make that forty-five. Sorry."_

The call cut off after that, leaving Danny to look at his ceiling for several moments, Sam's distraction ending giving his anxiety the ability to make a triumphant return. He shifted uncomfortably for a time he couldn't and didn't want to find out. At last, though, a loud grumble from his stomach got him to get out of bed and head for his door, the prospect of food overcoming even his mild fear of seeing his parents. When he was halfway to it, though, it opened.

* * *

The look in Danny's eyes wasn't exactly scared.

It was terrified.

It was just Jazz, a part of him said, to which the rest of his stress-ridden mind smacked it for. The two siblings were silent for a good thirty seconds, before the elder of the two stepped into the room and closed the door. Her instinct was to reach out for his hand and say something comforting, but she didn't know what to say; she'd prepared responses for anger or nervousness but utter silence hadn't really been considered. After a brief consideration, she went to her default mode.

"Danny," she said, "I know last night was, ahh, a bit stressful." Danny still stared at her. "But I hope we can talk about it." More silence. The lack of noise pressed down on both of them until, unbidden, a single word slipped from Danny's lips.

"How?"

Jazz nearly responded with a 'Huh?' but turned it into a cough. Danny felt an intense urge to sink through the floor.

"I saw you transform," Jazz finally answered, gauging his reaction with wary yet sympathetic eyes. Her brother looked like a very nervous, boyish bomb set to go off at any moment. "When that Spectra woman was counseling during spirit week, remember?"

Again, she received silence. Danny was quiet. He honestly wasn't that bothered by how she'd discovered him.

"Why'd you try to cover for me last night?" he asked, the hesitation in it making Jazz's heart break the tiniest bit.

"Because I wanted you to tell me," she replied, looking him in the eye. "I thought you'd have enough to do so I just started doing it. You noticed how all week Mom and Dad haven't given you any trouble, right?" Danny's eyes widened a fraction, then he felt a small surge of guilt. He hadn't really noticed that. He looked at the ground, and he could feel his anxiety washing away, replaced by a very unmanly urge he'd been putting down for a while.

"Thanks," he said quietly, "I-I didn't notice. I just…" the teen felt a hand on his chin, and reluctantly looked up into his sister's face. His sister. Jazz Fenton. Overbearing. Self-righteous. Annoyance. Bossy. Loving. Kind.

It felt like he'd forgotten what it felt like since the incident to just slow down. Have a space where he could breathe; no judgement, no ghosts, no late night confessions. Just… whatever he was feeling right now. Calmness. Normalcy. Even if it'd only last a few moments.

Then he breathed out blue.

Danny jumped, quickly freeing his chin and stepping back. Then he paused.

Jazz was looking at him, eyes full of something he couldn't discern but he knew wasn't good.

"Sorry," he said quickly, shutting his eyes, on the verge of going ghost before something in him made him stop. He opened his eyes, and still Jazz was looking at him with that thing in her eye; a mix of anger, sympathy, and sadness. Danny felt a strong tug in his gut, like a crane lifting a massive shipping crate, and he moved on instinct.

Jazz had not a moment to react before a pair of arms had wrapped themselves around her back. She felt a tickle on her neck and realized the raven-colored hairs causing it were, in fact, Danny's. Danny was hugging her. She wasted no time in reciprocating it, a smile gracing her tired face. The two stayed like that for a while, and Jazz lifted a lock of it, placing a kiss on Danny's forehead. He blinked, looking at her with pink dusting his cheeks, and she just smiled, and pulled him tighter against her. Then the door to his bedroom flew open.

"Danny!" Sam began, "There's a… uh…" she trailed off, and Tucker gawked at them. Danny felt his cheeks flushing and stepped away from the hug.

"It's cool guys," he said, glancing at Jazz. She nodded. "Jazz is cool." Sam stared.

"That's uh… erm…" she cleared her throat. "That's great, Danny…"

"Awesome, even!" Tucker added, and Sam shot him a minor glower. He shrugged.

"But we need to get going. There's a ghost attack at the Nasty Burger." Danny shook his head.

"Really?" Danny saw Jazz's smile turn a little sad, so he declared, "No ghost lays a finger on my fried food!" and went ghost. Jazz's smile was still with a twinge of sadness, but she walked up to her brother and placed a hand on his shoulder nonetheless.

"Hey," Danny turned to her, "Go punch it for me, will you? I'll come up with something. Mom and Dad won't do a thing." he smiled slightly.

"I will."

With that, he became intangible and flew in the direction of the Nasty Burger, Sam and Tucker hot on his heels. When the Danny's room was finally empty, Jazz, took a slow, deep breath and exited. She continued to smile as she had lunch, and the news gave by-the-hour reports of the fight at the Nasty Burger. Mom and Dad rushed out to see it, of course. It made her smile even more when Danny walked down from his room a while later, face tired but satisfied-looking all the same. Jazz patted the spot next to her on the couch and, after a second's surprise, Danny joined her. When the front door opened Danny stiffened, to which Jazz reassuringly squeezed his hand. Mom poked her head in to the living room.

"You two okay?" she asked, and both of her children nodded. "Good. I'll get dinner going around 7-ish." she left and Danny exhaled once he thought it was safe.

"Thanks," he breathed, leaning back and shutting his eyes. Jazz smiled.

"Hey. I'm here for you, bro."

Danny smiled at her. When he went to bed at nine that night, Jazz took one last glance in his room, quiet as she could be. Upon seeing Danny sleeping soundly for what had to be the first time in weeks, she fell asleep smiling, too.


End file.
